Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks: June 30

Devon Travis of the Toronto Blue Jays is congratulated by Jose Bautista after scoring a run in the second inning against the Texas Rangers on June 26.

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Devon Travis, 2B, Blue Jays (Red Sox, $3,000): The Blue Jays face a rookie lefty (Eduardo Rodriguez) who they pounded the last time. Toronto is on pace to be one of the all-time lefty-mashing teams (.872 on-base plus slugging percentage to date third all-time behind 1998 Rangers and 1998 Yankees–when runs were way more plentiful). This game unsurprisingly has the highest over/under expected runs on the board (9.0, tied with Los Angeles-Arizona). You have to pick the right hitters, of course. But Sale’s cost severely limits our options to basically Travis and OF Chris Colabello ($3,200).

Justin Turner, 3B, Dodgers (at Diamondbacks, $3,700): The sharps know that an open roof in Arizona is more conducive to runs (warmer air is less dense). It’s scheduled to be closed today but Swish Analytics (www.swishanalytics.com) still likes a cheap Dodger stack against Rubby De La Rosa. Turner is actually the most expensive of the quartet (the max allowed). Not surprising since he’s red-hot now and has been one of baseball’s best hitters since 2014. His .929 OPS is eighth among all players with at least 500 plate appearances since 2014, according to Stats, LLC. You can afford OF Joc Pederson (20 homers, $3,500), too, even with Sale.

Andre Ethier, OF, Dodgers (at Diamondbacks, $2,200): This price seems like a gift but check the lineups right before the contest begins just to make sure the joke isn’t on you. Ethier loves Chase Field (.926 OPS since 2013) and isn’t bad overall this year (10 homers).

Nick Ahmed, SS, Diamondbacks ($2,600, Dodgers): Shortstop is a wasteland but we have to play someone. Swish projects Ahmed as the best shortstop on the board backing out the four games where a serious threat of rain is in the forecast. We like lots of rain on the schedule because rainouts inevitably eliminate a good chunk of the pool. Ahmed is also hot of late—.840 OPS the past week—and hot hitters tend to be a smart play.